$3.4 million grant gives buses priority at traffic lights

Officials with the San Mateo County Transit District said they have received a $3.4 million grant to install a system that will give buses priority at traffic lights on part of El Camino Real.

The system, called a Traffic Signal Priority system, will extend a green light for a bus or shorten the time a bus waits at a light on El Camino Real between the Daly City BART Station and the Palo Alto Caltrain Station.

A similar system was installed on El Camino Real in Santa Clara County.

San Mateo County Transit District officials said the system will result in a 10 percent increase in on-time performance.

The SamTrans board of directors will formally accept the grant at a monthly meeting on March 1.

A final design is expected to be finished by June 30, 2018 and the system could be operating in 2020 or 2021.

The grant was made by the San Francisco-based Metropolitan Transportation Commission.